Rynda Fishing Week 27 – 2013

Rynda Fishing Week 27 – 2013

Every salmon fisher has experienced days or weeks when the conditions have been hard but week 27 in 2013 on the Rynda will be remembered for being exceptional.

The river was low and dropped each day. The very first passing wisp of cloud covered the sun at 4pm on Wednesday, the wind was always strong from the south, the air temperature at thirty degrees centigrade was constantly more suited to the Arabian than the Barents sea and the water temperature rose to +22C

It says a great deal for this great river, the help and knowledge of the guides and the persistence of the fishermen and women that 90 fresh fish were caught by eleven rods, some from every beat with the best two weighing in at 25lbs. As always good fish were lost but many more came short in the exceptional conditions.

Arkady caught his first salmon on a fly but it was Elizabeth Banks, on her numerous visits to the river, who showed how it could be done. She added to her truly expert knowledge of and enthusiasm for the flora by catching more than anyone else and also one of the two largest.

There was no big run of grilse and those that there were did not always take as freely as they can. Hitched flies, both large and small seemed to work as well as anything but it was asking a lot of the fish to get them to rise directly into a glaring sun.

There were other pleasurable surprises. A pike landed on a size 12 fly at Swan Lake, a bear seen at Rock Island, much bird song, white wagtails in the camp, the white tailed eagle and an inquisitive rough legged buzzard below the camp at Zolotaya. But most surprising was a hoopoe close to Horseshoe pool which the extraordinary heat must have brought many miles north of its normal range.

There was no shortage of good company or laughter or of the wonderful cheerfulness and courtesy of all the staff of the camp or of their efficient attention to every detail. Good translation made for much friendship with the two Russian and one Georgian who were of the party. As we left one of the fishermen remarked of the staff ‘they really make you feel part of the family.’

At Murmansk it began to rain heavily. Hopefully that was just what the salmon and grilse still at sea were waiting for.